District to Retain Geography Requisite

The Oxnard Union High School District has shelved a proposal to eliminate geography as a graduation requirement.

In November, administrators recommended that district trustees drop geography from the list of courses required for graduation so students would have more time to prepare for new state-mandated high school exit exams.

But social science teachers and parents in the five-campus high school district urged board members to reject the proposal, calling geography an essential part of the curriculum.

The board Wednesday night unanimously adopted the administrators’ new recommendation to continue the geography requirement and revisit the issue in two years.

At that time, the district would have a clearer picture of how many of this year’s ninth-graders are expected to pass the exit exam, officials said. Beginning in 2004, students must pass the test to graduate and may be required to take additional course work in math and English.